Well done, ladies; all of you! A fabulous competition. See you next year. Go Pies.

AFL:

For us, a welcome bye.

Did anyone else watch the Weagles win over Geelong? Two late goals to Geelong made it appear closer than was the case (once it was obvious from the time that WCE were going to win). It was a fabulous win to the WCE based on their frenetic tackling (which Geelong kept up with for a while; but not for the whole game. Watch the MRP results – fines only. Also did you watch part or all of the Richmond / Sydney game? Richmond were up 5 goals to none at the end of Q1. And Sydney won. Lessons from both for us? Sure are – work rates throughout. Watch them and see.

Netball. See you in 2018. Watch for the Internationals. These are usually seriously exciting.

Football. “One week at a time”.

This Week? Round 14 – Port Adelaide on Saturday, 24 June at the MCG; bounce 1.45pm.

Them. Port are coming from 4th place on the Ladder on a percentage of 134.4% (very healthy). Interestingly, they are regularly vacillating between wins and losses, week by week. Last week they beat Brisbane; the week before lost to Essendon; and before that won against Hawthorn, lost to Geelong (by 2 points) and won against the Gold Coast. So? Okay; they’re due for a Loss against us this week to keep the pattern going. Have a look at the Mid-Season Review of Port (written by the same ‘experts’ who seem to pick routinely so unsuccessfully against us). But, it’s a useful read – just don’t take it as gospel at http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-06-08/midseason-review-port-adelaide and some comment on it at http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-06-17/fans-2017-midseason-verdict-port-adelaide. Their Mid-Season review also differs a bit from their best listing over the last five games. Ryder, in the Ruck, is doing well; Wines in the Centre also; though the other Mids (Gray, Boak, Ebert and Polec (injured; not sure if he’ll make the game) have not been ‘stand-outs’. Similarly, Dixon has great support in the Mid-Season Review but hasn’t produced much recently. And, of course, they are up and running; not coming off a Bye, which can be a double-edged sword.

People / Things to watch for. Ryder in the Ruck and the Mids – Wines, Gray, Ebert. Watch Dixon at FF (Schade?).

Implications. Grundy will have his challenges. Importantly, he needs to work with the other Mids (ours, that is, not theirs). Our Mids need to dominate the Clearances. Wines might warrant tagging – depends on his game. This is where we focus on ‘moves by the coach during the game’ – “try them and see; and try something else, maybe”.

Us. Compared with Port’s 4th place, we are sitting 13th with 101.7%. But we are one Win plus a little bit of percentage outside the Eight; indeed two wins plus a lot of percentage outside the four – it’s that sort of season. What it shows, and the Season results, so far demonstrate, is that no team is unbeatable (okay, I acknowledge Adelaide at home are pretty close to that). But, the rest? Depends on the day. And we are coming off our bye, hopefully Reid, Varcoe, Elliott and Goldsack might be available? Our Mid-Season Review is at http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-06-16/2017-midseason-review-collingwood. My view is that we know what we have to do to win against the good teams – it would be useful to do that for a whole game (and less stressful on the supporters). Further we need to convert our domination – and reduce our waste (‘kick and hope’) – need a very strong discussion at the Mids to stop that.

Ins / Outs / Maybe’s? As above, with the break maybe Reid and Varcoe back; the others less likely, but always a possibility. I would also support bringing Schade back (not sure who misses out) and I would not support dropping our ‘newbies’ on the basis of one game (or even a couple). They need to be given a chance.

Other ideas or changes? Reid Forward, possible swapping with Howe? Also as above, I would love to see some influence from the coach’s box during the game to responds to events as they arise. What do you think?

Port Melbourne is sitting 3rd (133.3%) against our 12th (79.5%) on the ladder. I would not be prepared to pick an upset; Go Pies. Who to watch for in our side? Look for Keeffe (Back; rotating Ruck), Mayne (overdue for some form to follow-on from his four Goals against Casey before the Bye) and Kirby (not sure what to make of him, yet). And, of course, Daicos. .

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